1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wastewater treatment systems and methods.
2. Description of Related Art
Effective handling of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater is an extremely important aspect of increasing the quality of life and conservation of clean water. The problems associated with simply discharging wastewater in water sources such as rivers, lakes and oceans, the standard practice up until about a half century ago, are apparent—the biological and chemical wastes create hazards to all life forms including the spread of infectious diseases and exposure to carcinogenic chemicals. Therefore, wastewater treatment processes have evolved into systems ranging from the ubiquitous municipal wastewater treatment facilities, where sanitary wastewater from domestic populations is cleaned, to specialized industrial wastewater treatment processes, where specific pollutants in wastewater from various industrial applications must be addressed.
Biologically refractory and biologically inhibitory organic and inorganic compounds are present in certain industrial and sanitary wastewater streams to be treated. Various attempts have been made to address treatment of such biologically refractory and biologically inhibitory compounds. Certain types of known treatment include use of powdered activated carbon to adsorb and subsequently remove biologically refractory and biologically inhibitory organic compounds.
Nonetheless, a need exists to treat wastewater containing biologically refractory and biologically inhibitory organic and inorganic compounds without disadvantages associated with using powdered activated carbon and other existing technologies.